The Challenge of Ethical Finance
The conflict between Islamic values and the practices of Western financial institutions is a notable and long-standing one. We live in a system that operates on a foundation of interest-bearing profit, which directly contradicts Islamic teachings regarding finance. Recently, an additional and more insidious layer of complication has become top of mind for Muslim Americans: investments in weapons companies and surveillance systems.
How does a Muslim living in the West reckon with the forces we’re obligated to take part in that actively clash with our beliefs?
While there are factors outside of our control that make it challenging to use our money ethically, there are also a growing number of resources working to empower us to purify our earnings and spend with our values at the forefront. What options do we have to use our money in ethical and religiously compliant ways?
Key Halal and Ethical Financial Resources
1. HalalWallet
From mortgages to bank accounts to estate planning, **HalalWallet** offers a robust library of resources for Muslims looking to circumnavigate traditional financial products that don’t adequately meet our needs. It’s free to use and is designed to provide detailed comparisons for existing products in the market.
There’s even a feature to get matched with the best providers in Islamic finance custom tailored to your goals. You can also take advantage of HalalWallet’s zakat calculator - a tool focused on helping you understand what zakat entails and how much of your assets qualify for the 2.5% donation rate. Think of HalalWallet as the NerdWallet of the Islamic personal finance space - it gives you the information and resources you need to make decisions aligned with your values in a system that often neglects us. It’s a transparent and straightforward website that works to close the gap for Muslims struggling to identify and navigate viable options in the American financial space.
2. Not My Tax Dollars
Visit **notmytaxdollars.org** to access a tool that identifies how much of your tax money has been sent to Israel based on the city and state that you live in. To offset this money, the site provides an option to donate funds to the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action, an organization focused on transforming U.S. politics to create a better future for Palestinians.
3. Zoya
Investing in the stock market is one of the strongest ways to grow wealth passively, but many Muslims hesitate to get involved because of concerns regarding ethics and shariah compliance. That’s where **Zoya** comes in. It’s a halal stock screener that makes investing in halal companies significantly easier for the average investor.
The app identifies halal companies to invest in, gives you the ability to exclude companies involved in unethical practices and empowers users to create custom baskets that allow you to handpick a collection of companies based on your preferences.
The Importance of Halal Alternatives
The impact of refusing to engage with the financial system in meaningful ways is significant, not just for individuals but also for Muslim-owned businesses. So much so that it has resulted in an estimated $20.7 billion in losses in 2022 alone, according to Banking While Muslim. When each of us commits to transitioning to halal alternatives, we work to reduce this loss and empower our community for future growth.
It’s more important now than ever for Muslims to embrace wealth-building and financial literacy as a necessary step in uplifting our communities. This starts with utilizing and supporting existing tools that aim to provide shariah-compliant and ethical alternatives to non-halal products on the market. With an increasing number of options consistently being added to the Islamic finance space, we are constantly moving the needle in providing Muslims with better opportunities to grow our wealth and use our money to create the life we want while making an impact in the causes that are important to us.
